Event Horizon (1997) is a cosmic science fiction horror movie directed by Paul W.S. Anderson. The movie is well known for its Lovecraftian elements and well mix of horror with science which is an essential quality of any horror film.

Event Horizon Ending Explained and Plot Story in Details

* * * Spoiler Alert – If you haven’t seen the movie yet, turn back now! * * *

The year is 2047. A message is received from the Starship Event Horizon. This starship disappeared 7 years ago i.e., in 2040. It then traveled to Proxima Centauri, close to the planet Neptune.

The specialty of this starship is it can travel faster than light. So where it would take about 10 years to reach Proxima Centauri from Earth, the Event Horizon is reached in just a few moments. But disaster strikes when the starship loses contact shortly after arriving and disappears. As it was one of the most expensive projects in the world, their unsuccess came as a disaster for the world.

After receiving a message from the Event Horizon 7 years later, a rescue spaceship named Lewis and Clark is sent from Earth. The crew of this spaceship was Capt. Miller, second-in-command Lt. Starck, pilot Smith, medical tech Peters, engineer Ensign Justin, doctor D.J., and rescue technician Cooper.

Dr. William Weir was also joined them, the original designer of Event Horizon.

After approaching the Event Horizon, a Latin transmission starts coming from it. D.J. translates it “Liberate me”.

Aboard Event Horizon, the crew finds evidence of a massacre.

The team roamed the spaceship looking for other crews. Meanwhile, Justin reaches the gravity enforcement room and for some unknown reason, it activates on its own. Then there opens a tunnel covered with an unknown dark liquid.

Justin curiously touches the black liquid. At this time, suddenly, an unknown force pulled him inside from the other side. And this time a very strong gravitational wave hits the gravity machine. This damaged Lewis and Clark and reduced his oxygen supply.

Captain Smith and Peter rescue Justin. But on the other side, he saw something that caused him to go into a catatonic state and later commit suicide. As a result, he could not say anything about what he saw there.

After this incident, all the members of Lewis and Clark started to sever hallucinate. These events were basically some horrible memories of their past. These memories consisted of fears of repentance, which nested in their minds day after day.

Peter finds a videotape of Event Horizon from the log. Here, members of the Event Horizon change dramatically after being given a gravity drive. They become tyrannical and extremely adulterous. They attack each other mercilessly mutilating limbs. The video ends with a message from the captain. At this point, the captain raised his eyeballs and said in full Latin “Liberate tutemet ex inferis” which means “Save yourself from hell”.

This suggests that somehow the gravitational pull has caused our familiar world to interact with another unknown world. And that unknown world is so terrifying that everyone is comparing it to hell. We have seen this kind of sadomasochistic world before in the movie Hellraiser.

Captain Miller then decides to destroy the Event Horizon’s gravity generator. So that no one else is harmed by it. But Dr. Weir becomes possessed by a spirit. He gouged out his eyes and inflicted terrible wounds on his face. He then proceeds to stop Captain Miller from closing their portal in any way.

However, Captain Miller is able to destroy the portal by sacrificing his own life. Meanwhile, Starck, Cooper, and the comatose Justin go into stasis. As a result, they survived.

Another rescue team rescued them 72 days later. The newly awakened Starck is terrified. Because the doors of the spaceship were closing on their own, Starck caught a glimpse. That explains the panic of the Event Horizon is not over yet.

What is the monster in the movie Event Horizon (1997)?

Spaceship Event Horizon is the main antagonist of the movie, and the first human enemy is Dr. William Weir.

Dr. William Weir invented a technology to create a strong gravitational force at a specific point. And due to this enormous gravitational force, space and time become warped and create wormholes. That is, a shortcut road is created to travel from one point of space to another point.

As a result, huge distances can be covered in just a few moments. Given the distance between two points in space, it may appear that the spaceship is moving faster than light. But actually, it is not. Spaceships are essentially covering short distances over long distances.

In 2040 Dr. William Weir built a spaceship called the Event Horizon. It passes from Earth to Proxima Centauri, a maiden voyage near the planet Neptune. She only takes a few moments to make this trip. But it surprisingly disappears after exiting the wormhole.

Seven years later in 2047 when messages from the Event Horizon begin to arrive again, a rescue team was sent there.

There they realize the Event Horizon actually intersects with another universe from the multiverse when creating the wormhole. And this universe is a sadonistic hellish universe. The animals that live here, enjoy making people suffer.

The only entrance to our world with this hellish universe is the Gravity Controlling Chamber. Through the portal they influence people.

In the movie, we see the aliens from the other universe can understand the extreme weakness, fear, and regretful memories of humans. They make those dark memories visible in individuals through hallucinations. And in some cases, they directly possess people. As we see with Dr. William Wire.

Does anyone survive in Event Horizon film?

Miller, Starck, and Cooper eventually survived. However, the movie’s final scene raises suspicions that they may not have exited the Event Horizon. Perhaps they are all still hallucinating.